Lost Charles Towne: Local Manifestations of World Events

On May 29, 1664, colonists arrived in what is now Brunswick County to establish a town. Most of the arrivals were English. They chose a site on a low knoll at the mouth of Town Creek, a large tributary of the Lower Cape Fear River. Considerations in selecting this site would have included navigation, anchorage, defense, and centrality of position within the colony. The settlement was intended to be an agricultural one. By the fall of 1667, the colony was abandoned. Forces far removed from the colony contributed to its decline, including failure to obtain essential patents and charters from the king and lords proprietors, EnglandÃ¯Â¿Â½s war with Holland, and internal squabbles among the colonyÃ¯Â¿Â½s backers. Loftfield discusses what excavations reveal about the colony.